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Ivan Petkov

There are stacks of books about yoga. The essence of the teaching is that yoga is not a philosophy but anexperience. Each practical teaching exercise attempts to answer the most important questions that everyone asks. As a practical system, yoga gives its answers in the form of the proficiency and experiences which disciples gain through practising it. In this article I would like to briefly present yoga. The history of each different teaching resembles the story of a person, it shows how it has become what it is now and why, and how it has taken on its present form. It is important to understand that yoga is not a religion in the traditional sense of the word as the people of the West interpret it and therefore, I am using words like "teaching" and "system" when describing it.

Because yoga is a practical system, I must say that my experience is too modest in this regard. I am writing this article with a sense of gratitude and respect to all those who have shared their yogic experience with me and have allowed me, at least a little, to broaden my view of life and see "my mountain", the Taoist practices, from the "mountain" of yoga. I would like to express my gratitude also to those promoting this wonderful teaching in the world and in Bulgaria with great dedication. Yoga, like every good thing, can bring a lot of joy, wisdom and health to its followers.

Meaning of yoga

Yoga is one of the six Vedic schools which perceive meditation as a main tool for achieving liberation. A person practising physical, mental and spiritual yoga is called yogi. The word "yoga" originates from the ancient Sanskrit language and means, "to connect", "to bind", "to join", "to unite", "to merge", "to team up with", "to manage", "to control", and it may mean "concentration" too.

It should be noted that, over time, the word "yoga" has acquired additional meanings commonly associated with a particular practice and nowadays, there are at least 40 meanings given to this word.

Yoga undoubtedly is the most popular eastern teaching and it has the greatest number of practitioners worldwide. This is because yoga had opened to the world long before other esoteric teachings in which a disciple learns from a teacher. It was accessible to the general public as early as the 19^th century CE and everyone who wanted to practise it was able to master it. When, some years ago, I decided to try to find out what yoga is and started practising it, I naively thought that there was only one system. Alas, I was wrong. The word "yoga" involves many different trends and schools, and new ones appear with each new generation, bearing the names of the teachers who have established them or the name under which they have chosen to share their experiences.

Probably this is confusing for the western practitioner, as we are influenced by Christian dogmatism in which things are firmly established and very rarely subject to change. The permanent change in the form and name of yoga teachings does not mean a complete change in mindset and fundamental principles. Quite the contrary, from what I have seen, yoga teachings retain the core of their principles but, at the same time, they continue to develop and seek the appropriate form to meet the requirements of modern lifestyle. Their diversity ensures their vitality and constant development and, to some extent, reflects the types of people - emotional, rational or active - for whom a certain path is appropriate.

Bhakti yoga is the path of devotion. It is appropriate for emotional people. In it devotional service and love are crucial for achieving liberation.

Karma yoga is the path of action, which is done without attachment to its fruits. This path is for those who prefer action.

Jnana yoga is the path of wisdom. This approach is suitable for rational people.

Raja yoga or the "royal road" is the classical yoga formulated by sage Patanjali. In it meditation plays a major role.

Hatha yoga is the section of yoga which we, the people of the West, most often associate with our idea of ​​yoga. It includes body positions called asanas.

We cannot talk about yoga without mentioning the eight stages of yoga:

Yama - moral principles
Niyama - discipline
Asana - stable and comfortable position
Pranayama - extension of breath, breathing practices
Pratyahara - withdrawal of the senses
Dharana - concentration of mind
Dhyana - meditation
Samadhi - higher level of concentrated meditation